Alfa Romeo Mito Steering faults

Thursday, 15 June 2017 | Admin

Alfa Romeo Mito electric power steering faults.

The electric power steering column fitted in the Mito is a new design completely different from anything used in similar models such as the Grande Punto, but is similar to the column used in the Vauxhall Corsa D.

The power steering column/motor/ecu on the Mito is one integral unit. The motor/ecu does not separate from the column body. If a fault develops anywhere within the electric power steering eps column, then the complete column must be changed.

From 2008 through to September 2016 the Mito electric power steering column remains essentially the same the only variant was, models that have vehicle dynamic control (V.D.C.) .

Common Fault Codes will be;

C1001: Electric Motor Failure

C1002: Steering Column Torque Sensor Failure

Any of these faults will require a replacement column.

​These failures can present themselves in the following ways:

1. Motor failure ,sometimes intermittent to begin with but always leads to terminal failure, due to components within the internal control board inside the motor burning out.

2. E.C.U. Failure, the ECU contains several chips which control the both function of the colmn and also the self test and failure system.One or more of these chips can fail and cause the system to shut down, sometimes the ECU can give an eroneous fault code that appears to be a motor failure if scanned, but is actually a fault of the ECU itself. Importantly the ECU also controls the left/right balance of the column and is used to calibrate the output from the torque/position sensor contained in the column, for this reason the ECU should be matched and calibrated to the torque sensor.

3. Torque and position sensor. This is inbuilt into the centre of the column and gives the ECU information on the position of the steering wheel and also how much assistance is required from the motor.The sensor can go out of balance and steering becomes lighter in one direction,also can fail to give signal ,which will cause ECU to shut system down.When a torque sensor is replaced the column needs to be re-calibrated to ensure it is in balance. We believe the only way to do this is for us to supply a complete column with all components tested and calibrated.

No coding or programming will be required, this unit is simply plug and play.

The important part number is the one that is located on the back on the column on the late, it could have many different numbers we are able to supply for all of these different parts, so if you do not see your part number listed please feel free to give us a call on; 01179602906.

Part numbers are as follows

50516920

50515538

50520388

50513049

50516921

50517539

50518133

50526335

50553945

The main reason for failure of the electric power steering column on the Mito is the torque position sensor failing, this can result in a groaning vibration when turning the steering wheel which will eventually lead to the steering failure light/ message illuminating on the dash display.

The EPS motor/control unit can also fail sometimes intermittently whereby the steering will work some times and not work at other times.

For either of these types of failures the complete eps column will need to be replaced. Our range of remanufactured exchange electric steering columns for the punto are rebuilt to the highest standards and we use some heavier duty components in the rebuild to ensure that we do not see repeat failures for the faults described the columns also come with the peace of mind with a lifetime warranty.